Notes from SJ, 4-15-2010

I gotta get up early for Model UN tomorrow (omg nerd) so here's the notes from tonight's game in San Jose. Quick game summary: starter Craig Westcott pitched five shutout innings for the Giants but it was up to Francisco Peguero to save the day in the bottom of the ninth. The Giants won 5-4 in the first game of a four game set with the Bakersfield Blaze.

Westcott has a fastball, change, and a slider. The FB and change have good downward movement, though Westscott is more effective when he takes a bit off the FB. I saw 90-91 at times but it worked better 88-89 for strikes. The pitch can flatten out a bit, so he'll need to watch that. The slider came in around 79 and has a sweeping motion in on left-handers. His change looks like the FB most of the time, though the change can look a bit floaty. I saw some nasty low movement in the low 90s from him for some swinging strikes.

I saw less of the slider as his pitch count increased. He only went five innings and I don't recall him laboring as much. Maybe they don't want to extend guys so early.

Adrianza continued to chase high pitches in his first at-bat, but he settled down later. He drew two walks and had a base hit. He bunted his way aboard in the third inning, though he pushed the bunt towards the right side too hard and allowed the Blaze to get the lead runner at second. He stole second base but was picked off. Looked bad swinging on a change but worked a walk on four straight pitches in the ninth inning rally. 

He's impressive on defense. He stumbled on fielding a grounder, and made a throw from his knees. He almost got the runner despite his miscue.

Lormand looks great on D still, despite his mishap that led to two runs for the Blaze. The ball just went right under his glove. He still gets to the ball quickly and has a strong arm. He also had a hit and a walk.

Culberson's defense has looked a lot better than what I expected so far. He narrowly missed a liner up the middle, but made some other quick defensive plays. His range is good to both directions.

Peguero extended his hitting streak to seven games as the hero in the game. He knocked in the winning run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. The Giants loaded the bases on back-to-back walks. He already had a hit before his ninth inning heroics, and he scored a run and walked. Peguero stole two bases after he walked in the eighth inning. He made an excellent throw from center to nail the Blaze runner trying to score in the fourth inning. He really puts the pressure on with his speed on the basepaths. He's a very aggressive runner.

Juan Carlos Perez had a good game with two hits. He had a particularly strong at-bat in the first inning, fighting off pitches before singling. He was in right field tonight.

Belt picked up another hit and was hit by a pitch. Looking good at first base defensively as well. He stole a base, showing off good speed. He hit a long flyout to center in the fourth. He's seeing the ball well right now, so I expect more of those to become hits.

Ben Wilshire allowed two runs in relief for the Giants. When he was hit, he was hit hard. Wilshire has a nice little slidepiece at 74-76 and has a 91 FB with low movement.

Johnny Monell is confusing. Monday night he looked bad on defense behind the plate. Tonight he went opposite field on a base hit and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Jason Stoffel did not pitch the ninth despite the Giants entering the top of the frame with the lead. I don't know his status, but as far as I've heard he's active.

Blaze 3B Tommy Mendonca still strikes out a lot. He's a legit hitter with a compact swing and quick hands. He laced a long double in the fourth inning. I can see where he easily breaks down and strikes out. He unsuccessfully goes after low pitches a lot, and he looks really bad when he's out in front. He was off balance in his last two at-bats and it showed. The gap between his excellent hitting ability and where a good pitch can eat him alive is still pretty wide.

The Giants faced Fabio Castillo in the later innings. The scouts sitting ahead of me spoke of a 98 MPH FB from this guy, but all I saw was a few 94s. His changeup however was devastating, coming in at 88. The Giants hitters had no chance against him. That slider looks to be his out pitch.

Rockies scouts were in the house. Couldn’t see what teams the other scouts were repping.